Qanon

Did President Joe Biden resign and was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi detained? No, that's not true: The claims in this video and headline are not based in reality. This content is a mashup of material from various sources with a shocking headline intended to trick people into viewing the video. Lead Stories has previously noted this pattern of production in…

Did the U.S. Army Delta Force raid a storage facility on October 18, 2021? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such a raid occurred and the claim was published on a known fake news website. The claim appeared as an article (archived here) published by Real Raw News on October 21, 2021, titled "Delta Force Raids Adrenochrome…

Were "50,000 secret USA troops" just deputized by Donald Trump? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that any service members have been deputized by former President Donald Trump and made "Federal Marshals." A parody Twitter account made the original claim and used non-related social media posts to make the false connection. Trump is no longer the commander in…

Does a 52-page pdf entitled, "The Vaccine Death Report" show how dangerous and deadly COVID-19 vaccines are? No, that's not true: This document contains an international cast of claims that have already been debunked. The vaccine disinformation in this collection carries with it a secondary level of baseless conspiratorial beliefs underpinning most of the talking points that are summarized at…

Does the headline on this post correctly summarize the contents? No, that's not true: This video is another example of a clickbait tactic of a spam network that deceptively captures the attention of an American audience with hot-topic headlines that bear little relation to the content of the underlying video. The video is typically a well-produced package lifted from mainstream…

Does this photo accurately portray the appearance of Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam? No, that's not true: This photo, which originally appeared in the Toronto Star on April 23, 2020, has been digitally altered in several ways to change how she looks. Other public health officials, such as Dr. Barbara Ferrer, public health director of Los Angeles…

Did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and many others make confessions in military tribunals? No, that's not true: A video does not show a military tribunal with Pelosi and Schumer on trial. Instead, it's a photograph of Pelosi and Schumer at the U.S. Capitol in 2020 overlaid with audio of people talking about conspiracy theories regarding…

Were "senators" arrested at Arizona and does this mean that Trump is in trouble? No, that's not true: This nonsensical headline is clickbait intended to trick people into watching the video and joining the group promoted in the caption. One Arizona state senator, Tony Navarrete, was arrested on August 5, 2021, in connection with an investigation into suspected sexual conduct…

Did former professional athlete Tim Tebow release a public message in August 2021 that mentions a biblical prediction of a cashless society and "Anti Christ"? No, there's no evidence to prove that, and plenty of evidence to show the post is part of a Facebook copy-and-paste challenge that began circulating at least as far back as 2020, from the page…

Was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley recently arrested? No, that's not true: Milley attended a press briefing after a video making this and other false claims appeared on a Facebook account that pretends to be from two QAnon influencers. The claim appeared in a video published on Facebook (archived here) by a "MEL K Charlie…